Staying Warm
by starrnobella
Summary: Staying in Storybrooke was Hermione's best decision ever, except for when the furnace kicked out last night. COMPLETE - Sequel to Taking Chances


**A/N:** My last piece for the Festive Friends collection was written for our good friend, JenniseiBlack. I picked out a prompt that I knew would be fun to write and then I decided to write one of her favorite crossover pairings, Hermione Granger and Killian Jones. Something she and I share is our love of the ever so handsome Killian Jones.

This story takes place approximately a year after my story from the Joy to the World collection, Taking Chances, took place.

Grammarly was my beta for this piece.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and that your new year shines bright!

Love always,  
~starr

* * *

It had been a year since Hermione Granger stepped foot into the snowglobe city that was Storybrooke, Maine, and she hadn't regretted a second of it. Sitting in the middle of Granny's diner, she looked around and smiled at the small family that had accepted her as one of their own and welcomed her with arms wide open. Thanks to that magical mistletoe that somehow appeared above Killian's head before they entered the diner, there was a beautiful relationship that had blossomed.

Now, if only her beloved would get his arse to the diner. If he didn't get here in the next ten minutes, she was going to order dinner without him, and he could figure it out when he got here. She glanced over the menu once more, taking note of all the delicious options that she could enjoy as soon as she placed an order. Her mind and stomach decided on the meatloaf.

Just as Hermione was about to call Granny over to place her order, Killian walked through the front door with an apologetic look on his face as he made his way over to the booth she was seated in. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers before sliding into the other side of the booth.

"I'm sorry I'm late, love. There was a small issue at the house," he said, resting an elbow on the table.

"What's wrong?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

"The heater went out," he replied, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I called someone to come and fix it, but the earliest they can send someone out is tomorrow morning. That means that tonight, we're on our own to keep warm."

Hermione thought about it for a moment and smiled. "Well, we do have a beautiful fireplace that never gets to be lit since we use the heater for everything. What if we had a little slumber party in the living room tonight in front of the fire to keep warm?"

A smirk pulled at the corner of Killian's lips as he thought about how fun a slumber party in the living room would be. "Is an open fire overnight safe?"

"I can cast a containment spell around it, so all that spreads around the room is the warmth from the fire," she said with a wink. "Besides, it just means that we may have to cuddle up close for the entire night if we want to keep warm."

"I like the sound of that," Killian replied, chuckling softly as he reached his hand out to Hermione's and stroked his thumb over the softness of her skin.

"Can I get you two lovebirds something to eat?"

The sound of Granny's voice pulled both of them out of their trains of thought as they turned to look at her. Each of them was donning a smile as they tried to regain their line of thinking. Granny looked at the pair and laughed.

"Well, I didn't mean to interrupt anything," she said, taking a step away from the table and motioning toward the kitchen. "I can come back if you'd like."

"No!" Hermione shouted, recoiling in embarrassment at her unnecessary outburst. "Sorry about that. I'm just starving." She turned to look at Killian with a smile. "Do you know what you want to eat?"

"Aye," he replied, nodding his head. "You first, love."

"I'll take the meatloaf special with a large hot coffee," Hermione replied hurriedly with a broad smile on her face.

Granny jotted down her order and turned to Killian with a smile. "And you, Jones?"

"A burger with onion rings and a coffee," he replied, pushing the menus to the end of the table with his hook. "Thanks, Granny."

"Anytime," she replied, walking away from the table.

"You didn't even open the menu," Hermione said, shaking her head as she turned attention back to the man sitting across from her with a grin on his face.

"I've been coming here for a while," he said, shrugging his shoulders as he leaned back against the booth. "Granny probably could have predicted our order since we come in here all the time."

"I change it up sometimes." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her tongue out at him. "Sometimes, I order the chicken."

Killian shook his head and laughed. He reached over and squeezed her hand gently. "I love you even if you are a bit predictable."

Hermione glared at him. "Just remember that predictable comment when you are freezing tonight because I've kicked you out from under the covers by the fire."

"You wouldn't do that," Killian replied.

"Just you wait, Jones. Just you wait."

. . . . . . . .

Hermione pulled a blanket tightly around her body as she snuggled deeper into the couch. When Killian had told her earlier that their heater had gone out at the house, she didn't think anything of it. They had a fireplace in the living room that they could light and snuggle up in front of, but that was before they got home, and she felt how cold it was inside.

"Are you sure it only went out this afternoon?" she asked, her teeth chattering together as she watched him add another log to the fire before returning to the couch. She leaned forward so he could climb in behind her and then leaned back against him. His body heat plus her body heat plus the heat from the fire was keeping the shivers away.

"Aye," he said, kissing the top of her head softly. "Unfortunately, it gets cold when it snows here in Storybrooke, and it's been snowing since five o'clock this morning. Don't worry, love. I'll keep you warm."

He wrapped his hand around her body and leaned back against the couch. "Time for a movie and hot chocolate."

"Dang it," Hermione mumbled. "I knew I forgot to bring something in her from the kitchen. Accio hot cocoa."

Killian watched as two mugs floated from the kitchen and landed on the coffee table that was next to the couch. He watched as Hermione leaned forward and grabbed both mugs, turning to hand one to him, which forced him to remove his hand from her waist.

"Thank you," he said, taking the mug from her hand and lifting it to his lips. It smelled delicious and was warming his hand as he held it, sipping from it slowly. "This is delicious."

Hermione smiled and leaned back to place a gentle kiss on his cheek before drinking from her own mug. "I used Granny's secret recipe. The cinnamon really makes all the difference."

"Aye," Killian said, nodding his head slowly. Cinnamon hot cocoa was a favorite drink of an old friend that he hadn't seen in a while. In fact, he hadn't seen her since before Hermione came to town, and while he missed her, Killian was grateful to have met Hermione on that flight back to Maine and beyond delighted that she had chosen to stay with him in Maine.

Setting the mug back down on the coffee table, Killian reached for the remote control and turned on the television. After a few moments of scrolling, they found a channel playing all sorts of Christmas movies that they could enjoy. Happy with their choice, he placed the remote back on the table and settled into the couch. He smiled as Hermione snuggled in close and pulled the blanket over both of them.

As theme music to A Muppets Christmas Carol played in the background, Hermione noticed that the snow had started to fall heavier than it had been when they came home. It was going to be a long, cold night, but luckily for her, she had her own personal space heater to curl up with for the night.

Killian glanced down and noticed that Hermione had drifted to sleep on his chest. He smiled softly and brushed the strands of hair that had fallen into her face aside. He felt a shiver trail down his spin that forced him to glance over at the fireplace.

The flame was starting to diminish, and soon it will go out completely. Theoretically, they would be left out in the dark and cold soon. Looking around, Killian realized that he wouldn't be able to do anything about it. The way that Hermione was lying on him, there was no way that he'd be able to get out from underneath her to add wood to the fire. This was one of the few times that he wished he had the same magical powers that Hermione did; that way, he could cast a small spell and reignite the fire to keep them both warm.

With a sigh, he looked down and saw how peacefully she was sleeping. As long as she was comfortable enough to sleep, then he decided that he could rest his eyes for a while as well. He tilted his head back and closed his eyes, allowing himself to drift off into dreamland.

. . . . . . . . . .

Hermione felt the warmth of the sun on her face as her eyes fluttered open to the bright light of the sun shining through the living room window. Glancing around the room, Hermione rubbed her eyes with the butt of her hand. She thought back through the events of last night as she noticed Killian still fast asleep on the couch behind her.

She smiled softly and then pushed herself up off the couch and walked over to the window. Grabbing the edges of the curtains, she pulled them shut and then looked down at the fire. At some point during the night, the flame must have extinguished.

She shrugged as she realized that she never noticed a change in temperature, so her personal space heater did exactly the job that he was supposed to do. Hermione grabbed a few new logs out of the basket beside the fireplace and stuck them inside. With a quick spell, she watched as the fire roared back to life.

The clock on the wall told her that if she wanted to catch a few more hours of sleep, she could before she had to get up and ready for work. Looking at Killian sprawled out on the couch, the view looked inviting, so it was time to get back to sleep.

She returned to the spot she had vacated just moments earlier and tucked her feet up underneath her body as she leaned against Killian. Tugging the blanket up to her shoulder, Hermione snuggled in close to Killian and smiled as she felt his arm wrap around her side and a hand stroking her back.

"The perfect place to spend a cold winter's night," she whispered to herself as she nuzzled in close.


End file.
